


Hereafter Volume Two

by rae_marie



Series: Echoes In the Universe [13]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen, blair kenneth verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-07 14:38:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18412670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rae_marie/pseuds/rae_marie
Summary: Blair wonders if she'll ever find a home again, and is quite surprised at the answers she gets.





	1. Episode One

The Doctor helped Blair into a seat next to the record player. Blair looked around; she couldn’t believe how tall the ceiling was in here, and everything was golden….there was a beautiful spiralling staircase….

The Doctor pulled the demat lever and the TARDIS took off. Soon enough, he pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. 

‘Are you all right?’ he asked. Blair shook her head. ‘Do you want to talk about it right now, or would you rather wait?’ 

Blair sighed. 

‘The Master probably thinks I’m dead, and I don’t know how to get back to him. Or if I  _ can _ get back.’ 

‘Ah.’ The Doctor paused. ‘....what happened, if I might ask?’ 

‘I don’t mean this as harsh as it sounds, but….you would know. You were there.’ 

The Doctor frowned for a moment, then he gasped. 

‘You…. _ you survived! _ ’ He sprang up. ‘Oh, Blair; I’m so sorry….I wanted to warn you about this at the library….I was so arrogant and foolish - ‘

‘It’s okay, Doctor,’ she said, trying not to cry again. ‘You….you tried your best, and I didn’t die.’

They stared at each other. 

‘All this time I thought I’d killed you….I’m so sorry.’ 

Blair shook her head. ‘I’m alive now; that’s what matters.’ 

‘How did you survive?’ the Doctor asked. 

‘I….don’t know, really.’ She sighed.  ‘I….everything went black, and then I woke up on Gallifrey, and this horrid Time Lord from the CIA forced me to try and help her take over the planet, but I refused, and then the Lord Ambassador helped me to escape.’ 

‘The Lord Ambassador….’ The Doctor looked thoughtful. ‘I wonder….’ He shook his head. ‘So you ended up accidentally stranded on an abandoned colony world, and set up a distress signal?'

Blair looked confused. ‘I don’t know where that came fr - ‘ 

Just then, her pendant buzzed, and she untucked it from her collar. ‘ _ Oh _ .’ 

The Doctor looked at it. ‘That would explain a lot,’ he said. ‘That’s a tracking device - and it has distress call capabilities.’ 

‘I guess the Ambassador programmed it somehow,’ Blair said. She shook it; she supposed the battery had just run out of charge, possibly drained or damaged when she’d been flung against the wall. She looked up at the Doctor. ‘How do you think I survived the fall out the airlock?’ she asked. ‘I wasn’t wearing any kind of transmat equipment.’ 

‘Probably some sort of time scoop,’ he said. ‘The CIA must have time-scooped you when they saw you were at that fixed point, and….’ He trailed off, and looked away. There was a horrible silence.

‘What do you mean “fixed point”?’ Blair asked, surprised at her own calm tone. The Doctor said nothing, and she went cold. ‘Doctor….?’ 

The Doctor sat down again and sighed. ‘I….I’m sorry, Blair. You….the incarnation of the Master that you knew….’ he hesitated, and Blair could feel her eyes burning. 

‘Did the Alari kill him?’ she asked. 

‘Oh, no!’ The Doctor shook his head, then looked back at her, seriously. ‘I am not going to tell you all of it, Blair; trust me when I say you don’t want to know, but….I’m afraid you’re never going to see that incarnation of him again.’ 

Blair felt her heart drop. She looked at the floor, and all the memories of the last few years came rushing back to her. 

‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘Please tell me.’ 

There was another silence, and then the Doctor spoke. 

‘I don’t know where to begin, Blair; I know it’s only been a few days for you, but for me it’s been decades -  _ centuries _ , even; I tend to lose count - and I’ve watched him go from madness to madness; perhaps there  _ is _ a hope that you will see him in the future, but he - or she - most certainly won’t be the same Time Lord you knew.’ 

Blair stared at the floor. ‘I see.’ 

She felt the Doctor watching her for a while. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked. She shook her head.

The Doctor rose, and she felt him put his arms around her. 

‘If you ever need to talk, let me know,’ he said. ‘And you can stay here as long as you need to, or want to.’ 

‘Thanks, Doctor,’ she whispered. 

‘Of course.’ 

They stayed like that for a long while, as the TARDIS gently winged its way through the swirling vortex of space and time. 


	2. Episode Two

Blair looked up from  _ Much Ado About Nothing _ .

‘Where’s Ace?’ she asked. 

‘Mm?’ The Doctor looked up as well. ‘Oh! Ace is off doing something important right now; she was going to signal me when she’s finished.’ 

Blair nodded and got up to put the book back on the shelf. The Library was so expansive, yet so warm and welcoming, and she loved it. 

She slid the book back into place, and something caught her eye. A thin book, with a spine that said, in tiny letters,  _ ATLANTIS _ . 

‘Doctor, what’s that?’ she asked. He came over and looked, and then laughed. 

‘Oh! It’s a game! You play it with a pen and paper, instead of a board.’ 

Blair smiled faintly. ‘That sounds fun,’ she said.  _ I need a distraction _ , she thought. ‘Can we play it?’ 

Without another word, the Doctor reached over and took the book off the shelf. 

*****

An hour later, Blair was actually laughing. 

‘No! Don’t touch the Seashell of Disaster!’ she cried. ‘Sara can’t lose her bagel!’ 

‘Too late, I’m afraid!’ The Doctor rolled the die; it fell with a 13 facing up. ‘ _ The Seashell is mine _ ….’ 

Blair could barely hold in the laughter. She crossed out the Seashell of Disaster from her sheet, only she pressed too hard, and the lead broke. 

‘Hang on; I think I have another one in my backpack,’ she said, still laughing. She got up and rummaged through her bag. 

‘Got it!’ She pulled the pencil out, and with it, came a small, folded piece of paper that fluttered to the ground. 

Blair stared. 

‘Blair? What’s wrong?’ There was a note of worry in his voice.

‘Doctor….’ 

The Doctor got up and came over. ‘What is it, Blair?’ he asked. 

Blair reached down, trembling, and picked up the paper. 

‘It’s….it’s the note the future-Master gave me….he said to only open it in my darkest hour.’ 

‘I think it’s safe to say that you’ve already experienced that,’ the Doctor said. ‘Come back to the table, and you can open it there.’ 

Blair shakily made her way back to the table and sat. Gingerly, she opened the note and began to read. 

_ Hello, Blair. _

_ I know you’re probably feeling very sad right now, and I am _

_ very sorry I can’t be there to help you feel better, although I _

_ am told by the best source that you are in safe hands. _

_ I want to assure you that we will most certainly meet again, _

_ however, I’m afraid I must ask you to do something difficult: _

_ please do not come looking for me; it will cause untold _

_ trouble if we find each other at the wrong time.  _

_ I am very sorry about this, but again: rest assured we  _ will _ meet _

_ again. Until then, I know you are safe with friends. _

_ Until later, then. I love you, Blair. _

_ \- The Master _

….and then the typical circular signature. 

Blair felt like she was choking. 

‘It’s all right to cry, Blair,’ the Doctor said gently. 

‘Th….thank you….’ 

She cried for a while, not knowing if it was from sadness or joy. 

After a while, she looked at the note again. She smiled weakly.

‘If I were you,’ the Doctor said, ‘I would keep that note safe.’ 

‘Yeah.’ Blair wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. ‘I’m sure gonna be doing that.’ She looked up at him. ‘I can’t believe it.’ 

He smiled. ‘I’m glad you have a reassurance of meeting again,’ he said. ‘Until then, feel free to stay here, or if you find somewhere you want to stay on our travels, feel free to do that as  _ well _ .’ 

Blair nodded. ‘Thank you, Doctor.’ 

‘You are  _ very welcome _ ,’ he said. ‘Would you like to be alone, or shall we  _ rrrreturn _ to our game?’ 

Blair laughed. ‘Let’s play the game! In celebration!’ 

The Doctor laughed as well, and reached for his character sheet, but then there was a beeping from the Console Room. 

‘Oh - that’ll be Ace!’ The Doctor got up, and Blair followed. ‘She’ll be surprised to see you here.’ 

They went out to the Console Room, and the Doctor programmed the controls and pulled the demat lever. When they landed, he quickly checked the scanner, then smiled and opened the doors. 

‘Hey, Professor!’ Ace called as she sauntered in. ‘I’m telling you - that was one - ‘ 

She broke off when she looked over to Blair, and  _ stared _ . 

Before Blair realised what was happening, Ace had run over and rather squooshed her into a hug. 

‘Blair! What are  _ you _ doing here?!’ she laughed. ‘It’s good to see you again!’ 

‘Good to see you too,’ Blair managed to gasp out. Ace let her go and looked at the Doctor. 

‘Picking up hitchhikers without me, eh, Professor?’ She grinned. 

‘Blair is here under rrrrrather unforrrtunate cirrrcumstances,’ the Doctor said. ‘But no time for that now - we’ve picked up yet another signal; a distress signal, to be precise.’ 

Ace raised her eyebrows, but said no more. The Doctor dematerialised the TARDIS, and Blair wondered what they would find when they landed. What adventure would they find themselves on?  
She looked around. It wasn’t  _ home _ , per se, but it was a home away from home, and one with friends, at that, and that was enough for now. 


	3. Episode Three

They all stepped out together and looked around. The planet was lush and green, but not a single person was in sight. 

‘Maybe the coordinates were off, Professor?’ Ace suggested. The Doctor shook his head. 

‘No….it was most definitely meant to be  _ here _ ….I wonder….’ 

‘Wait - what’s that?’ Blair whispered. Everyone stopped and listened. 

In the distance, there was the sound of someone crying. 

‘There  _ is _ someone here,’ Blair said. The Doctor nodded tightly. 

‘Right - this way.’ 

He started off to the left, and they followed. 

‘What do you think’s going on?’ Blair whispered to Ace. 

‘Not sure - you have any idea?’ 

‘Not sure either - other than the obvious.’ 

They kept on in silence until they came to a part of the field where a stone wall stretched across it. On the wall, their back to the three of them, was a figure, who was obviously upset. 

‘Hello?’ the Doctor called. ‘What’s wrong? Can we help?’ 

The figure made a choked sound and turned, and Blair froze. 

‘No….not you….’ she whispered. 

‘I….I don’t know what’s wrong with me….’ the girl on the wall faltered. ‘I….it’s like I keep flickering out of reality….’ 

The Doctor moved forward, and Ace started after him, but then stopped and turned back to Blair, who wasn’t budging. 

‘Blair - are you all right?’ she asked. 

‘It’s  _ her _ ,’ she said. ‘Ellen Hastings.’ 

‘Who?’ 

‘It’s - never mind. There are some things you have to face.’ 

She strode forward, utterly furious, catching up to the Doctor quicker than Ace could keep up. 

‘Wait - Blair! Come back!’ 

At the sound of her name, Blair saw Ellen look up at her, and her eyes widen. 

Blair reached the wall. 

‘Fancy seeing  _ you _ here,’ she said. 

‘Blair - what are you - where’s the Master - ‘ 

‘No thanks to the Alari you were working with,  _ we got separated! _ ’ Blair scowled. ‘How  _ could you _ , Ellen?! How could you keep  _ doing  _ things like this?!’ 

By now Ace had caught up, and the Doctor was looking at Blair with surprise. 

‘You know her?’ he asked. 

‘ _ Yeah _ . She  _ used  _ to be my best friend.’

There was an awkward silence. 

‘Blair, I….I don’t know what to say….’ Ellen looked away. ‘I just did what I needed to do to get home….’ 

‘You can’t  _ get home _ , Ellen!’ She almost screamed it. ‘Haven’t you worked that  _ out?! _ ’ 

‘That’s easy for you to say!’ Ellen snapped. ‘You didn’t  _ have  _ the kind of family I have! We were so close - and now they think I’m  _ dead! _ ’ 

The words echoed through Blair’s mind, and a surge of pain shot through her. She choked back a sob. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see Ace standing beside her.

‘Blair, maybe you should go back to the TARDIS,’ she said. 

Blair said nothing. 

‘What do you mean, “flickering out of reality”?’ the Doctor said, after another awkward pause. 

Ellen looked at the ground. ‘It’s like I - ‘

Her voice faded away as she started to look indistinct and see-through. Blair gasped and stepped back further. 

The Doctor took out his sonic device and buzzed it at the air where Ellen should be. Slowly, she faded back into view, completely solid. She looked pained. 

The Doctor came over to Blair. ‘Why can’t she go back home?’ he asked. 

‘The same reason I can’t,’ she said. The Doctor nodded. 

‘I see.’ He thought for a minute, then turned back to Ellen. 

‘I can take you somewhere they might be able to help you,’ he said. 

‘I just want to go  _ home _ ,’ she said. ‘Does no one  _ get that?! _ ’ 

The Doctor sighed and sat down next to her. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘I think we all do. But if you go home, it will hurt everyone in the Universe - you; me; Blair; Ace; the Master; your parents….anyone you can think of, it will  _ hurt _ . You don’t want that, do you?’ 

Ellen looked up at him. ‘No….but I don’t see  _ why  _ it would.’ 

The Doctor sighed and looked over his shoulder at Ace and Blair.

‘Would you leave us in private for a moment?’ he said. ‘We’ll be back at the TARDIS shortly.’ 

‘Gotcha,’ Ace said. She gave Blair’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘Come on, Blair.’ 

Blair mutely turned and let Ace guide her back to the ship. 

*****

‘You see, I had a  _ terrible _ time growing up,’ Ace said, wandering around the Console Room. ‘Believe me when I say it was  _ atrocious _ . But every time I’ve had to face any of it, I’ve always had the Professor with me. You don’t have to face any of this alone, Blair;  _ real _ friends stand with each other - not like this Ellen Hastings who ditched you when something better came along.’ 

‘Thanks, Ace.’ Blair smiled at her, and Ace smiled back. 

‘’Course! That’s what friends do.’ 

For the next half hour, Ace told Blair completely unrelated stories about her travels through the Universe, and Blair almost forgot about the problem outside, and that it would come through the door at any given moment. 

*****

The door opened, and the Doctor walked in, a very solemn Ellen trailing behind. She didn’t look at Blair at all, and Blair was grateful for that. 

The Doctor set the course and dematerialised the ship, and shortly, it landed again. 

‘We’re here,’ the Doctor said quietly. He looked at Ellen, and she shuffled her feet, then looked at Blair. 

‘I….I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know what I was doing at first, and then I….I got carried away.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry I nearly killed you, and for….well….everything.’ 

Blair looked at her, and felt Ace’s hand on her shoulder again. After a long moment, she said. 

‘Okay.’ 

Ellen nodded. ‘I understand if you never want to speak to me again.’  

‘Yeah, I kinda don’t. But thanks for apologising.’ 

‘Yeah.’ She looked at the floor, then back up at her. ‘Goodbye, Blair,’ she said. 

‘Goodbye.’

Ellen nodded, and the Doctor opened the door, and led her out. 

‘You all right?’ Ace asked. 

‘I will be.’ Blair laughed ruefully. ‘That’s the first time in years she’s apologised.’ 

‘If you want to talk….’

‘Thanks.’ 

They sat down next to the bookshelves and waited for the Doctor to come back. Eventually, the door swung open and he strolled in. 

‘She’s safe with a colony of ancient dissenters from Gallifrey,’ he said. He shut the door and started programming coordinates. ‘They’ll try to fix her condition and help her in other ways.’ He looked seriously at Blair. 

‘That was very brave of you;’ he said. ‘You should be proud.’ 

‘Thanks, Doctor.’ Blair took a deep breath, then let it out. ‘I had you guys here. It helped.’ 

He nodded, and pulled the demat lever. ‘If it’s any consolation, I don’t think you’ll ever see her again. She has to stay where she is now, in order to fully heal.’ 

‘Okay.’ 

Blair closed her eyes.  _ I can finally leave this behind _ , she thought. 

‘Anyhow! Next stop, ancient Sweden,’ the Doctor said. ‘There’s an artefact there I think we should investigate.’ 

‘Oh, no, Professor….this better not be another haunted artifact….’ Ace groaned.

‘I most certainly  _ hope _ not!’ the Doctor said. 

_ Haunted artifacts? _ Blair thought.  _ What am I in for now….? _

Around her, Ace and the Doctor bantered good-naturedly. 


	4. Episode Four

The three of them stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around. 

‘Where is this?’ Blair asked. 

‘Not sure,’ Ace said. ‘Doctor?’ 

‘A Viking settlement.’

‘ _ Vikings?! _ ’ Blair couldn’t believe her ears. ‘We’re gonna meet _ Vikings?! _ ’ 

‘Yes! The artefact I was telling you about; I believe it’s here. It would make sense - it’s carved with runes, which the Vikings would’ve used in this time period.’ 

‘Doctor….I don’t like this at all….’ Ace started. 

‘Don’t worry, Ace; Fenric won’t be here. I’ve specifically checked the history around this place, and he never was at this colony.’ 

‘Fenric?’ Blair asked, but Ace shook her head. 

‘Don’t want to talk about it.’ 

Blair understood, and didn’t ask Ace anything else.

They continued forward in the half-light; the sun was setting, and it was reflecting beautifully on the water. They stopped on the shore and stared at it together. 

‘It’s getting dark,’ Ace said. 

‘Life is full of darkness.’ The Doctor’s voice was quiet. ‘But if we can learn to laugh in the face of it, then life will be that much more full.’ 

They watched the sun slowly sink behind the fjord, then turned at the sound of running footsteps. 

‘What are you doing here? Who are you?’ a woman in a long green robe called, running up. She stopped when she reached them.

‘Hello!’ the Doctor said. ‘We’re travellers; we just arrived.’

‘It’s nearly nightfall - you don’t want to be out here in the dark.’ The woman shook her head. ‘Come inside; I’ll take you back to my house.’ 

‘That is very kind,’ the Doctor said. ‘Lead the way!’ 

*****

They entered the dimly lit house, and the woman encouraged them to sit down. Once they were all seated, she served them goblets of water, and asked how they came here, and why. 

‘Oh….we came in our rather unusual ship - not like any you’ve ever seen,’ the Doctor said. ‘For one thing, it’s shaped rather unusually. And we came here to find and remove a dangerous stone that could hurt your village if left here.’ 

‘Are you from the Norðreyjar? Or Suðreyjar?’ she asked. ‘You have the accent of one of them.’ 

‘Ah - we’re all from very far away,’ he said. 

‘I’m from Perivale,’ Ace chimed in. 

‘And I’m from….well, sort of all over the place,’ Blair said. 

‘As am I.’ The Doctor smiled. ‘Although I’m originally from Gallifrey, which I’m sure you’ve never heard of.’ 

The woman shook her head. ‘No; not at all. What are your names, guests? I am Finna.’ 

‘The Doctor.’ 

‘Ace!’ 

‘Blair.’ 

‘Wonderful!’ Finna said. ‘Well feel free to stay the night, travellers; I’m sure the stone can wait until morning.’ 

‘Thank you.’ Ace stretched. ‘I could do with a kip after all the excitement lately.’ 

*****

Blair and Ace lay on two adjacent pallets, staring out the window. 

‘The stars are so bright here,’ Ace whispered. ‘I wonder if we’ll see the Northern Lights?’ 

Blair said nothing for a moment, then pointed; her hand barely visible in the shadows. 

‘You see that bright one?’ she whispered. ‘Every time I see a star that bright, I pretend they’re all the same one, and that the Master is somewhere nearby it. And I wish him good night.'

Another silence.

‘You miss him a lot, don’t you.’ It wasn’t a question. 

‘Yeah. But we’re gonna see each other again, one day,’ she said. 

They sat there in the dark, watching the star, until they started yawning, and then they laid back on the pallets and pulled the blankets up to their ears.

_ Goodnight _ , Blair thought.  _ See you soon _ .

*****

Blair woke up the next morning to find Ace and the Doctor already awake and gone. After a few minutes, she yawned, stretched, and headed for the door. 

‘Not until you’ve had something to eat,’ came a voice. Blair looked up; it was Finna, holding out a parcel of something flat wrapped in a cloth. She took it and unwrapped it; it was a flatbread. 

‘Thank you!’ Blair said. She finished the bread quickly, then went outside to join the Doctor and Ace.

*****

When she reached them, they were kneeling by a large rock together. She knelt down and peered over their shoulders, trying to figure out what they were looking at. 

‘It’s this, Blair,’ the Doctor said. Blair gasped. 

It was the gem. 

‘Doctor….I know what that is!’ she whispered. 

He turned around sharply, almost making her fall over. 

‘You do? How?’ Ace was staring at her too, now.

‘I saw it on Gallifrey - the Ambassador said it was full of regeneration energy, and it had to be contained.’ 

‘I see….’ The Doctor looked back at it thoughtfully, then reached out to pick it up. 

It vanished. 

Everyone stared, then looked at each other, then back at the rock. 

‘I guess it’s back to the TARDIS, then,’ Blair sighed. 

‘Yeah….guess you’re right.’ Ace stretched and looked around. ‘We should go say goodbye to Finna.’ 

They all went back to the house. Finna asked them what they’d found, and when they told her, her eyes widened in surprise. 

‘That’s strange,’ she said. ‘Well I hope you find it soon!’ 

‘Thanks, Finna,’ Blair said. ‘And thanks so much for letting us stay here.’

‘Oh, of  _ course _ ,’ she said, laughing. ‘I love entertaining guests.’ 

*****

Once they were back in the TARDIS, Blair and Ace crowded around the Doctor as he programmed a course back onto the trail of the gem. 

‘Do you think it’ll disappear again when you try to get it next time?’ Ace asked. 

‘I’ll read up on it.’ 

‘Somehow the Ambassador picked it up without it porting off,’ Blair said. ‘There must be a way.’ 

‘We’ll see,’ the Doctor said. ‘As for now….’ He pulled the demat lever and smiled.

‘....let’s all have a pot of tea.’ 


	5. Episode Five

The TARDIS landed, and the Doctor flicked the door switch.

‘Here we are!’ he said. 

‘Doctor, maybe you should check the scanner….?’ Blair said. ‘We might not be in a good environment, for all we know.’ 

‘Oh, don’t worry - I know exactly where we are!’ 

Blair headed for the door and walked out. 

She was immediately greeted with a familiar face.

‘Blair….? How did you materialise in my dorm….?’ 

Blair stared, open-mouthed, then let out a cry of joy and leapt forward to hug her friend. 

‘ _ Lisar! _ ’ she cried. ‘How  _ are _ you?!’ 

Lisar laughed, and they hugged for a long time. 

‘I’m fine,’ she said when they finally pulled away. ‘A little startled, but fine!’ She looked up, and Blair turned to see the Doctor and Ace coming out of the TARDIS. 

‘Oh - did the Master regenerate?’ Lisar asked.

‘Oh….I….no….’ Blair trailed off, and the Doctor smiled at Lisar. 

‘Hello!’ he said. ‘I’m the Doctor, and this is Ace.’ 

‘Hi!’ Lisar turned to Blair with a questioning look, and Blair sighed. The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. 

‘We’ll leave you two to catch up,’ he said. Blair nodded, and they left. 

She looked up at Lisar. She still looked like the same old friend she had left here ages ago.

‘What happened, Blair?’ she asked gently. She beckoned to a tiny sofa, and they both sat down on it. 

‘I….well the Master and I kinda got separated,’ she said. ‘He thinks I’m dead. And I can’t go find him, or it’ll foul up the timelines. He has to find me, and I don’t know how long that’ll take.’ 

Lisar put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Oh, Blair, I’m so sorry….I honestly don’t know what to say.’ Blair sighed. 

‘I’ve been to Gallifrey, and nearly got killed there, and then the Doctor found me, and we’ve been travelling together, but it doesn’t feel like home.’ 

There was a silence for a minute, then Lisar said, 

‘Blair….I’m  _ very _ good friends with the Director here, and he’s said that he trusts me enough to recruit new students. I still have one free scholarship to give away….and I know this is a lot to think about at once, but….you could live here with me, if you wanted to.’ 

Blair looked up at her, shocked. Then a grin slowly came across her face.

There was a cough from the doorway, and they both looked up. The Doctor and Ace were poking their heads around the doorframe. 

‘We think we’ve found the direction the gem is in,’ Ace said. ‘Do you wanna come with us?’ 

‘“Gem”?’ Lisar said. 

‘It’s a dangerous artefact.’ Blair looked at her. ‘We’ve been trying to find it and contain it.’ 

Lisar stood up. ‘ _ Absolutely _ .’ 

*****

‘Has there been any strange electrical interference lately?’ the Doctor asked. Lisar nodded. 

‘The robotics lab has been having problems, but we don’t know why.’ 

They stopped at a door, and the Doctor aimed the sonic at the lock and took it out. Lisar’s jaw dropped. 

‘ _ Doctor! _ ’ she said. ‘You  _ have  _ to put that back! Look - I have the keys here! That wasn’t even necessary! It’s a  _ vintage lock _ , and the Director’s gonna be  _ so mad! _ ’ 

The Doctor looked crestfallen, and Blair saw Ace snickering out of the corner of her eye. She smirked. 

The Doctor sighed and opened the door, then picked up the lock and wordlessly soniced it back on. 

‘ _ Thank you _ ,’ Lisar said. 

They went inside. 

The Doctor started scanning again, and once he pointed the screwdriver in a specific corner, the scanner went berserk. 

They all rushed over, and the doctor crouched down. 

‘Is it all right if I unlock  _ this _ door?’ he asked with a smile. Lisar laughed, then stopped and looked confused. 

‘Wait -  _ what _ door? There isn’t one.’ 

The Doctor frowned, then realisation seemed to dawn on him, and he turned the sonic up even higher. There was an electrical pop, and suddenly a tiny, locked, revolving door appeared in the corner where the two walls met. 

‘Great  _ Scott! _ ’ Blair gasped. 

The Doctor pushed on the door, and it turned, revealing a dark magenta gem with what Blair now realised was runic writing on it. Carefully, the Doctor reached out and pointed the sonic at it.

‘This should deactivate any teleportation technology in it,’ he said, and switched the sonic on. 

With a whirring sound, the gem  _ vanished _ . 

‘ _ No _ , not  _ again! _ ’ Ace groaned. The Doctor sighed. 

‘Onto its trail once more, I suppose,’ he said. He stood up. ‘Thank you for your help, Lisar.’

‘Wait - Doctor - ‘ The Doctor looked at Blair with a question in his eyes. Blair took a deep breath. 

‘Can I get my backpack first? I’m gonna stay here with Lisar.’ 

The Doctor smiled. ‘Of  _ course _ .’ 

Ace looked sad. ‘Aw, I’ll miss you, Blair,’ she said. 

Blair gave her a hug. ‘Thanks, Ace. Come visit me sometime? I’ll miss you too.’ 

‘Yeah; I will.’ 

‘Quickly, then,’ the Doctor said. ‘We must be off soon.’ 

*****

Blair stood outside the TARDIS with her backpack, waving as the ship slowly disappeared into the Vortex. She was always amazed at how strange that looked from the outside. 

Lisar put a hand on her shoulder. ‘It’s late, Blair,’ she said. ‘You can have my bed tonight, and we’ll figure out another one for you in the morning.’ 

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah. Don’t worry; I’ll shift into a cat or something; I’ll be fine.’

_ That’s still really hard to get used to, _ Blair thought. 

Soon enough, they were lying in the dark, falling asleep, and Lisar had, indeed, turned into a (rather large) cat, and was curled up on the floor nearby. 

Blair’s gaze wandered to the window on the far side of the room. A star was pulsing brightly outside it, and she smiled. 

‘Good night,’ she whispered. ‘Wherever you are, goodnight. I’ll see you again soon. All of you.’ 

*****

Breakfast was uneventful, although the sausage and eggs was particularly good. After they had finished, Lisar took her to the Director’s office. 

‘Come in,’ came a woman’s voice when she knocked. 

Lisar opened the door, and a slightly familiar dark-haired woman sat at a desk. She was giving Blair a  _ massive _ sense of deja vu, but she didn’t know why. 

‘Are you well, Benny?’ Lisar asked. 

‘Yeah, more or less.’ She rubbed her eyes and looked over at Blair. ‘Hello! Are you new here?’ 

‘Yeah; Lisar brought me here to meet the Director - is that you?’

Benny burst into laughter. ‘ _ No! _ Not at  _ all _ \- though he’d find it hilarious that you thought that. No; Brax is off talking with a class right now, but he’ll be back in a minute. Why don’t you two wait over there? I’m Professor Bernice Summerfield, by the way.’ 

She gestured to the couch in the corner, and Blair and Lisar went over and waited. 

Eventually, the door opened, and a tall man stepped in. 

‘Hello, Bernice! Did I miss anything?’ 

Blair gasped. 

‘What is it?’ Lisar whispered. 

‘Well, there’s a new student here to meet you,’ Benny said. She turned and smiled at Blair, and the Director looked over and smiled as well. 

‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Welcome to the Renaissance Academy!’ 

‘It’s  _ you _ ….’ Blair breathed. 

The Director frowned. ‘Me? Well of  _ course! _ Who else would I be?’ 

‘No - no - of course you’re you, but….don’t you remember me, Lord Ambassador?’

He frowned. ‘Ambassador….? I….I’m not sure….’ 

Benny looked from the Director to Blair, to the floor.

‘Oh, no, not again,’ she said. 

*****

An hour later, Blair was sitting in the cafeteria with Lisar and Benny. 

‘He can’t remember a lot of his life from before this regeneration,’ Benny said. ‘Every now and then little pieces come back to him, but it’s not often. You may have started something though.’ 

Blair’s eyes were wide. ‘I only met him a few days ago in my timeline,’ she said. ‘This is so strange.’ 

Benny laughed, a little ruefully. ‘Ah, well when you get to know Irving Braxiatel, that’s usually the way it is.’ She smiled at Blair. ‘But don’t worry too much about it. I think you’ll do just fine here, and I’m sure you and Irving’ll get along fine, even if he can’t remember you.’ 

Lisar touched her on the shoulder. ‘Would you like to stay with me?’ she asked. Blair grinned.

‘ _ Yeah! _ ’ 

Benny smiled. ‘Good; that’s settled, then. Welcome to the Renaissance Academy, Blair.’ 

‘Thank you,’ Blair whispered. 

She sipped her cup of tea, and looked out of the window at the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the nearest tree.


End file.
